


Sleeping Arrangements

by Pollydoodles



Series: The Wider Pizza-Verse [3]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-08
Updated: 2016-02-08
Packaged: 2018-05-19 05:31:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,820
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5955481
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pollydoodles/pseuds/Pollydoodles
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Steve. Stop staring.”</p><p>Darcy mumbled her words, eyes still tight shut, trying to fool herself into still being asleep. Her dark hair tumbled about her face and across the pillows it was buried in. Sleepily she offered up thanks that Steve at least hadn’t switched the lights on as he’d discarded the shield wherever it had dropped from his arm, and his thick boots thumped across her floor. She’d long since given up bothering to lock the door. Between Bucky slinking into her apartment and then her bed every so often, and Steve invariably turning up hours after that to locate his friend, it wasn’t worth the hassle. </p><p>“How’d you even-“</p><p>“Sorry to break it to you, but even though you look like a male model, Cap, you’ve got all the grace of a baby elephant learning to walk for the first time.” Darcy retorted, contemplating putting the pillow over her head. It wouldn’t make him leave, though.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sleeping Arrangements

“Steve. Stop staring.”

Darcy mumbled her words, eyes still tight shut, trying to fool herself into still being asleep. Her dark hair tumbled about her face and across the pillows it was buried in. Sleepily she offered up thanks that Steve at least hadn’t switched the lights on as he’d discarded the shield wherever it had dropped from his arm, and his thick boots thumped across her floor. She’d long since given up bothering to lock the door. Between Bucky slinking into her apartment and then her bed every so often, and Steve invariably turning up hours after that to locate his friend, it wasn’t worth the hassle. 

“How’d you even-“

“Sorry to break it to you, but even though you look like a male model, Cap, you’ve got all the grace of a baby elephant learning to walk for the first time.” Darcy retorted, contemplating putting the pillow over her head. It wouldn’t make him leave, though. 

He huffed at her words, but quietly. She cracked one eye open reluctantly and regarded him, cloaked in shadows and shifting awkwardly from one foot to the other, still kitted out in his suit. She could see a few rips in it, and what might have been blood trickled across his cheek. It wasn’t clear from her perfunctory sweep over him whether it was his blood or not, but if he was standing then she wasn’t too worried. Steve healed quicker than Barton could put away cheeseburgers, and that was no mean feat. 

“Is he…?”

“S’fine.” Darcy whispered, shifting slightly under the covers and reaching out a delicate foot to run her toes lightly up Bucky’s shin, softly enough to not wake him. The man sighed in his sleep at her touch and curled towards her. His dark hair, still long, fell across his face and she was pleased to see that it was relaxed and carefree. 

Steve edged closer to the bed, eyes on his friend. “Did he have another nightmare?”

Darcy, now turned away from Steve and eyes also on Bucky, paused before answering him. “Don’t think so.” She wanted to reach out and run her fingers down his cheek, but knew that was likely to disturb him. He kept odd hours as it was, she didn’t want to steal his slumber if she could help it. “He wasn’t shaking when he turned up. I think he just woke up, and you weren’t in the tower, so…”

Steve nodded. Bucky seemed to have less and less nightmares now, but he still didn’t sleep much. Didn’t seem to need to, really, and Stark’s team of over-qualified doctors had guessed that it was some side-effect of the knock-off serum fed to him by HYDRA. Steve didn’t know if that was true or not, but what he did know was that Bucky seemed to have a real need to not be alone. He didn’t need to interact, and he wasn’t much of a talker in general these days, but he had to be around someone. 

It was usually Steve, but he was back on active duty now that Bucky was more stable, and that meant more time away from the tower. Thank god for Darcy, Steve thought – and had thought, many a time. Thank god she had somehow accepted without question Bucky trailing after her, and an additional body curling into her bed on the odd occasion, no warning given. Happy to share with a man who could wake at a pin drop and kill the person who’d let it fall before it even hit the ground, should he consider it necessary. 

He moved closer to the bed, and Darcy threw out a hand in warning towards him. He froze, and whispered in a low hiss “What?” 

“Careful.” She gestured lazily downwards and Steve’s gaze followed the curve of her fingers to the end of the bed, just in front of his feet, where four large sacks were stacked haphazardly. Confused blue eyes snapped back to Darcy’s face and she shrugged. “Stark’s five hundred. Told you he’d want dog food.”

Steve snorted. 

“Made me drive to, like, three different pet stores to – and I quote – ‘get the right stuff’.” Darcy grumbled, but Steve could hear the fondness laced across her voice as she spoke. Darcy had a major weak spot for Bucky that he’d only seen her exert on one other person – Dr. Foster. He smiled and side-stepped the heap of food, crossing to the other side of the bed and staring down at his best friend. 

Bucky lay outstretched now, metal arm laying across his forehead and the other gently brushing against Darcy’s side. Steve noted the comfortable way that Darcy leaned into Bucky’s body, although not touching him any further than his arm laid against her. The moonlight, threatening to change into daylight very soon, streaked through the gaps in the curtains and glinted off Bucky’s arm. 

Steve sat down heavily on the end of the bed before Darcy could stop him. 

“Cap- wait-“ 

A sharp bark and a lingering whine split the darkness and Steve hopped back to his feet guiltily. Should’ve known. Barton’s dog stared back at him reproachfully from the end of the bed. He’d been sleeping, happily stretched out across Bucky’s feet, before Steve had unintentionally tried to park his ass on him. 

Darcy, now fully awake whether she liked it or not, sat up, resting on her palms. “I tried to warn you…” 

“Steve?” 

Bucky snapped to attention and threw the covers off himself. He slipped to his feet and stood in front of Steve, regarding him carefully. Steve sucked in a breath and waited. It was still odd to him, seventy years later, that Bucky was just slightly shorter. The other man tilted his head, absurdly imitating the dog he loved so much, as he looked Steve up and down, cataloguing the scrapes and rips in his uniform. All he was missing was an ear flopped over his face and they’d be a matching pair. 

“Is that my shirt?” Steve broke the silence by gesturing to Bucky’s sleepwear. A red plaid shirt hung over loose pyjama pants, three buttons done up to incorrect holes. 

“Yes.” Bucky responded carelessly, eyes still roving over the other man stood in front of him. Steve turned his sigh inward. He recognised the shirt, and he’d worn it earlier in the week, which meant Bucky had found it buried in his laundry basket. Probably after searching Steve’s apartment upon waking, finding him gone. 

“Buck,” He said, reaching out and grasping a shoulder. “You gonna go back to sleep now?”

Bucky frowned slightly before responding. “You’re hurt.”

“It’s healing. You know how quickly it goes.” Steve reminded him, and pulled the collar of his suit down slightly to demonstrate to Bucky a fading cut that he knew was there. The dark-haired man leaned forward to inspect Steve’s neck, so close his nose was almost brushed up against the already fading wound. “See? It’s fine.”

Bucky exhaled sharply, and was still so close to Steve that he could feel the breath ghost across his exposed skin, but sat back down in the bed. Darcy, rolled onto one side, head propped up on one bent arm, smiled at him as he adjusted the covers over himself. “Buck, your shirt’s all wrong.” She sat up cross-legged, and reached towards his chest. The man lay still and patient as she corrected the buttons for him, finally smoothing the material over his chest and laying back down again. 

From the bottom of the bed, the yellow Labrador woofed softly and licked at Bucky’s exposed foot. The soldier yelped and drew his leg back, covering the foot under the duvet as best he could. The dog flopped down across Bucky’s legs and snuggled his nose into the back of the man’s knee. 

“Ugh, alright. Cap, you want in?”

Darcy looked up at him, the question hanging in her eyes, and he stared at her quizzically. 

“Bed?” 

He suddenly realised what she was asking. “Oh, Darce, I don’t think- it’s not fair on you, I mean -”

“Cap.” She said sharply, cutting across his stuttered speech. “So far tonight I’ve been woken up by a man breaking into my apartment and climbing into my bed; followed a dog with severely poor dental hygiene, followed by another man who apparently thinks he’s stealthy but absolutely is not.” Steve had the decency to blush at her last comment, and Darcy raised an eyebrow in his direction. “All I wanna do is get back to sleep. Just get in the damn bed if you want to.”

“My suit-“

“Honestly, I don’t care. Lucky’s slobbered over a lot of the bottom of this duvet, and I’m not sure when Bucky last had a shower to be honest, so everything is getting nuked in an auto-clave tomorrow if I can persuade Stark to let me have one, so whatever you’ve been doused in won’t make too much difference to the overall ambience.”

She paused. 

“Take the boots off though. I’m not a total heathen.” 

Steve grinned, despite himself, and toed off the boots obediently. He pushed at Bucky’s side, and the other man rolled over into the middle of the bed, one arm slipping across Darcy as he did so. She curled up and scooted to the other side of the bed, trying to make as much room as possible. 

Steve hesitated slightly, still a little reluctant to get into bed in his battle-stained suit, despite the inviting space opened up for him and the welcoming tug of sleep beginning behind his eyes. 

“I swear to god, Rogers, if the cogs in your brain whir any louder, I’m gonna clock you one with your own shield.” Darcy’s voice was already low as she snuggled into the pillows, willing herself back into blissful deep sleep, where super-soldiers and ex-assassins could bother her less. 

Steve dropped into the mattress with a groan and stretched out, his bare toes hitting the Labrador still curled up at the end of the bed. Lucky shuffled and rested the weight of his head against Steve’s right ankle. It was surprisingly comforting. 

“You’d better not snore, Rogers.” 

“It’s been a while since anyone was in a position to let me know.”

“Trust me, I’ll let you know.”

The threat dying on her lips, Darcy stretched herself out before curling back up like a cat, and allowed herself to concentrate on the slowing breathing of the two men squished alongside her. Before long, she’d been lulled back into sleep and was happily tucked under Bucky’s arm. 

Bucky, surprisingly, dropped off just after Darcy. 

Steve stayed awake the longest, partly re-running the mission in his mind, performing his own de-brief and mentally checking whether it could have played out any better. The rest of him was simply enjoying the peaceful snores of his best friend, finally embraced in the arms of the sandman.


End file.
